Night of the Zombie

By M. R. James

Welcome back to the town of Boo!

Things have been pretty quiet for Billy, Amanda, and Mr. Night ever since Halloween ended, but that's all about to change.

When their friend, Emily, decides to make a zombie movie in town, she goes to the extreme to make her film look as real as possible.

The result is zombies...lots and lots of zombies.

With the help of Mr. Night, it's up to Billy and Amanda to stop the chaos before it's too late, and the dead take control of Boo...forever!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gemineo
• Release date: Sep 29, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386804352

M. R. James

Montague Rhodes James was born in 1862 at Goodnestone Parsonage, Kent, where his father was a curate, but the family moved soon afterwards to Great Livermere in Suffolk. James attended Eton College and later King's College Cambridge where he won many awards and scholarships. From 1894 to 1908 he was Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and from 1905 to 1918 was Provost of King's College. In 1913, he became Vice-Chancellor of the University for two years. In 1918 he was installed as Provost of Eton. A distinguished medievalist and scholar of international status, James published many works on biblical and historical antiquarian subjects. He was awarded the Order of Merit in 1930. His ghost story writing began almost as a divertissement from his academic work and as a form of entertainment for his colleagues. His first collection, Ghost Stories of an Antiquary was published in 1904. He never married and died in 1936.

Book preview

NIGHT

OF THE

ZOMBIE

M.R. James

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Night of the Zombie

Copyright © 2014 M.R. James

Published by Gemineo

All rights reserved.

By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this book. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, compiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the expressed written permission of M.R. James.

For my niece Ellie, and the zombie girl, Emily Hagins

- 1 -

Mackenzie Stringer pounded her fists on the steering wheel, letting out a sharp cry that startled her son, Zack, who sat next to her in the passenger seat.

He watched while his mother turned the key in the ignition, frantically trying to start the car, but nothing happened. The car wouldn’t start.

The engine was dead.

Tears streamed down her face, scaring Zack because he knew it was just a matter of time before they caught up to them. They, who were also dead. Shambling after them not more than ten feet away now. Their rotting skin flaking in the breeze while they groaned their desires.

BRAAAIIIINNNNNS!

He looked back over his shoulder and out the rear window. They were there. Four of them, their arms outstretched. Reaching for him. Torn clothes, blood dripping from their hungry mouths. Eyes wide open as they set their sights on Zack and his mother. One of them was wearing a wedding dress, and the veil hung over one side of its decaying face like it wanted to play peek-a-boo.

I’m sorry, baby, Mackenzie whimpered beside him.

Come on, Mom, please, he begged. Hurry.

In the whole ten years he had been alive, Zack had never been so scared. He didn’t want to die, and he especially didn’t want to get eaten by zombies. Why wouldn’t the car start?

He reached across and turned the key himself, hoping it would spark in the ignition.

It didn’t. The car remained still and lifeless.

Zack looked at his mother and she reached for him, holding him close to protect him. Her intentions were good, but Zack knew that no one could protect him. Once the zombies broke into the car—smashing through the windows—there’d be no place left to run.

They would get him, and bite him.

Bite his arms, his legs, and his stomach. Chew on his flesh until they got to the one thing they really wanted. The one thing all zombies craved: his brain.

Zack pulled away from his mother and caught a glimpse of them in the rearview mirror. There were two of them on his side of the car, and he turned his head to see the remaining two on his mothers’ side of the car. The one with the wedding dress covered in blood almost seemed to smile at him, like it was welcoming him to a nightmare that would never end.

Zack shut his eyes tight and prayed while his mom continued to twist the key in the ignition, hoping against hope the car would magically start and take them far, far away from this madness. If it had wings, he thought, we could just fly away like a bird.

One of the zombies reached his window and started pounding on it.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

His eyes snapped open and he stared at it. The creature left a bloody handprint on the glass, and then another, and another as it tried hungrily to get inside the car and eat him.

His mother screamed, Stay away from my baby!

THUD! THUD! THUD!

On her side, outside the window, another zombie began pounding. Mackenzie’s mouth formed a small, terrified O before a scream escaped her throat.

Then the windows smashed and Zack’s entire world went black.

The last thing he saw was a salivating mouth opening wide to eat his brains.

- 2 -

Cut! Emily yells, and the crowd around her breaks out in thunderous applause.

I glance over at my brother, Billy, and see him smiling and watching Emily’s mother and her brother get out of the car, and the actors playing the zombies back away to give them room.

That was perfect, Emily says, and she turns off the video camera and sets it down on the ground to give her mom a hug.

It looks as if the whole town of Boo has turned out to watch Emily film her movie, Night of the Zombie. Everywhere I look I see familiar faces. Mr. Hendricks from across the street. Mr. Welliver from school. Even Mrs. Lindauer has come out to show her support, and she never supports anything. This one time I was selling chocolate bars to raise money for my class and she slammed the door right on my nose, but now she has a smile on her face and is winking at Emily.

I look up at Mr. Night who is standing next to me. He’s dressed in his trademark black suit and hat, with black shoes and white dress shirt. It feels like a million degrees outside in the heat, but he’s barely sweating. He glances down at me and smiles.

What did you think, Amanda? Mr. Night asks.

I thought it was great, I tell him, and I did.

Seeing a movie shot in our small